Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last Friday 88 branches of the Bank of Ireland throughout the country closed. This is another blow to the rural economy. Along with that went the only ATM machine in a number of towns. One of those towns was Granard in County Longford where the local credit union has applied for planning permission to install an ATM at its facility. When that happens, I urge people to support their credit union and their post office. As a postmaster, I am naturally biased. We have those facilities available but I would urge people to support the financial institution that remains in many towns in rural areas because the reality is that within the next 24 months, it is likely many other branches of other banks, such as AIB, will also close. I would ask people to support the financial institutions that remain.

As Members are aware, I am still battling to get support for the post office network. The reality is that within the next 12 to 15 months, unless there is a significant increase in social protection payments going into post offices, which decreased at an alarming rate specifically after Covid-19, we are looking at in the region of 300 post office closures in early 2022. That is a reality and people need to grasp that.

When a post office closes - a number have closed, in particular in Dublin - I ask people to transfer those payments to another post office rather than to a bank, which is more than likely going to close its branch. We have always used this analogy of use it or lose it, so I ask the public to support those financial institutions that remain because otherwise they will be gone within the next 24 months.